The present invention relates to baby walkers, and in particular, it relates to bumper guards for baby walkers.
The use of baby walkers which allow an infant to exercise by walking by himself or herself is well known. Baby walkers are considered convenient and beneficial training exercises for the infant. However, in use the baby walker can strike a person's ankle, furniture, and walls and occasionally causes a nick or scrape on the furniture or wall.
Patents that describe baby walkers include Kassai U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,132 and Sudo U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,430. The Kassai patent describes an infant walking trainer which can be collapsed and folded for easier storage and transport. The infant walking trainer is collapsible upon activation of release mechanisms located on the legs of the walking trainer. The Sudo patent describes a baby walker having foldable legs, whereby the walker may be collapsed into a substantially flat form for shipping or transportation. A plastic covering is provided for covering the leg joints to prevent injury to the infant or damage to furniture. This covering is movable downwardly along the legs to expose the joints when the legs are folded up.
The use of bumpers for baby walkers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,028 by Williams. The Williams patent describes a bumper encircling the baby walker at a level relatively close to the floor. The brackets are mounted or secured to the lowermost portion of each of the legs of the baby walker. The bumper is then mounted on the brackets thereby releasably securing the bumper to the brackets.